Garment-supporter.



J. BURMEISTER.

GARMENT suPPoRTER. l

APPLICATION FILED JULY I4. i916.

1,227, 1 1K2. Patented May 22, 1917.

WITNESS NVENTOR A TTQRNE Y w .was Perm: cov. nom-uma. wAsmNuwN. a c.

`LTOHN`-BRMEISTER, oF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.,

GARMENT-surronrnn.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Flay 22, '7.

Application led July 14, 1916l eria1No. 109,381.y

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known thatl, rJOHN BURMEISTER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county 4of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have' invented certain new and useful Improvement-sinGarment- Supporters, of' which the following is a specification. f. A 1

This invention relates to improvements in garment supporters, and isvdesigned particularly for supporting hose and other articles of wearingapparel.

Heretofore, `hose supporters commonly in use have been so constructedthat whenapplied to the stockings or other clothing they present thickbunches or lumps, which often show through therelatively thin outergarments. Furthermore, nearly all the former supporters comprise twoseparate members, one of which carries a stud, usually covered withrubber or cloth, the other member be ing a detachable loop, which isplaced over the stud and the portion of thefhose engaged by the stud,and vis then'manipulated in the usual manner for securing all of theparts together.k These Lstuds are relatively small and often pierce andmutilate the hose, and besides,the.loop and vstud members being separateparts, sometimes let-go, and therefore, are not entirely dependable.VThe objectoffthe present invention is'to provide a clasp for garmentsupporters,'which consists of ya pair of tweezenlikelspring jaws,normally open when idle, between which the stockings or other clothingare disposed, the said jaws capable of being compressed and interfittedforv providing'` a: relatively thin body which lies flat against theperson. A further object `is to providey novel, simple and effectivemeans for compressing and holding the jaws of the clasp in the engagedposition. All of the said parts being constructed and arrangedparticularly for producinga claspwhich is substantially flat andltherefore invisible when worn beneath a relatively thin outer garment.And a further object' isto providenovel and simple means vfor shieldingthe metal parts of the clasp from contact with the body of the wearer. Y

I attain these objects by the means set forth yin the detaileddescription which follows, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing,in which--V v y Figure lis a front elevation of the clasp Fig. 4'isarear side elevation.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section, taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a front face view of' theclasp alone.

Figs; 7 and 8 are respectively front and ledge views of tlieloc'kingsleeve.

IIn the drawing, the clasp or clamp coin'- prises the .tweeZer-like armsor shanks 2 and 2', having at their corresponding ends cupshaped jaws3-'35` These parts are prefer-` ably made of a singlestrip or piece ofspring .steel or other suitable material, which is folded at 4, forforming an eye or loop, and atthe same time giving to the clasp acertain amount of spring or flexibility, which tends to normally spreadthe jaws apart when the device is not in use. lThe cuppedr portion ofjaw 3 is smaller than the corresponding portion of aw 3, and is intendedto be received within the latter telescopically when the arms areycompressed or closed .upon each .other (see Figs. 3 and 5') forgrippingand holding. a garment or hose, as 6, which is inserted betweenthe jaws 3-3 while they are spread apart, as shown' in Fig. 2. 7 repre-'sents a sleeve or slide which encompasses the arms or Shanks 2 2',between the jaws and loop 4,the said sleeve preferably being flattenedto conform to the shape of the said arms. The opposite, or front andrear sides of the sleeve at its forward end are provided with integrallugs or guards 7 which overlap the aws 3--3 when the latter are in theclosed position.

The jaws 8-3 are preferably wider than the arms 2-2, in `order toprovide each with the cup for receiving portions of the garment. Thebent up edges or flanges eX- tend along each side and acrossthe ends ofthe jaws 8-3, so asto aiford a relatively long gripping or engagingsurface for each jaw, whereby when the jaws are brought together by theforward or downward sliding of the sleeve 7 the fabric of the hose orother `garment is4 engaged to the full extent of the flanges or lips ofthe jaws. Thus, when the jaw l enters the jaw 3 the fabric .is crimped(see Fig. 5) in the formof the letter U, which aifords an adequate gripor hold on the garment. The lugs or guards 7 of the sleeve extendpartway over the outer faces of the jaws 3 3" and tend to prevent thelatter from springing apart under any of the usual strains while thedevice is in use. To increase the grip and adhesion of the device, aswell as to prevent the metal of the clasp from contacting with the bodyor underclothing of the wearer, the jaw 3 has its inner face coveredwith cloth or rubber S, which is extended over the end portion of theflange, then folded backwardly against the outer face of the jaw, and issecured to said jaw by threads or other suitable securing means, as 9.The jaw 3 is perforated at 9 to facilitate the sewing of the shield 8.The cloth or rubber shield 8 is again extended longitudinally, passingloosely beneath the sleeve 7 and the loop or eye Ll, and its oppositeend is folded over a rod or wire 10, which is carried by a suspenderloop 11, the shield 8 being secured to the rod 1() by sewing` or othersuitable means, as shown at l2. rlhe loop .11 otherwise of' the usualconstruction, having a contracted portion 11 which passes through andpivots in eye 4L. 13 represents an elastic or suspender, which isattached in the usual manner to the enlarged portion of loop l1. Inpractice the Suspenders 13 are usually detachably secured tothe corsetsor other parts of the clothing, and are adjustable by means of buckles14.

The operation of my improved garment clasp is as follows:

The top of the stocking or the like portion of another garment isinserted between the open jaws 3 and 3 (Fig. 2) of the clasp. The jawsare then compressed by the thumb and finger sufficiently to hold theparts in place. The sleeve 7 is then moved downwardly over the arms 22', by applying the thumb to the upper end, as at 15. The sleeve shouldbe slid downwardly until the opposite edge portions 1G approach closelyto the upper ends of the flanges of the jaws (see F ig. rlhis operationtightly compresses the jaws together, jaw 3 within jaw 3', and clampsand securely holds the fabric of the garment, as described. To releasethe stocking, the jaws are compressed with the thumb and fingers, andthe sleeve 7 is moved toward the loop 4, by applying pressure againstthe end of lug 7 This allows the jaws to spring apart, as in Fig. 2.

My garment clasp is extremely simple in construction and inexpensive tomake. The interfitting or telescoping jaws grip the fabric of thegarment in a manner that holds against any strain to which the devicemay be subjected, and the whole device is so constructed and arrangedthat it is fiat and relatively thin and has no projecting parts whichrender it visible when worn beneath the relatively thin outer garments.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I cla-im as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

A garment supporter comprising an integral resilient metallic stripbeing bent upon itself to provide a pair of adjacent resilient arms, oneof which is slightly longer than the other, the arms at their free endportionsbeing materially widened and having down-turned flanges' alongeach side and across the edge to form cup-shaped jaws, one adapted toreceive the other and crimp therebetween a portion of a garment, and

-means for drawing said cup-shaped ends together comprising a slidablecontinuous member encompassing the arms and having frietional contacttherewith, said member being provided with relatively long forwardlyextending inclined lip portions each projecting a substantial distancefrom the body thereof, and lengaging the surfaces of the arms,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JOHN BURMEISTER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. C.

